Joshua Clayton

Joshua Clayton (20 July 1744-11 August 1798) was Governor of Delaware from 30 May 1789 to 19 January 1796, succeeding Jehu Davis and preceding Gunning Bedford, Sr., and a US Senator from 19 January to 11 August 1798, succeeding John Vining and preceding William H. Wells. He was a member of the Federalist Party.

Biography
Joshua Clayton was born in Wyoming, Delaware in 1744, and he began a medical practice in Middletown in 1762. In 1765, he married Governor Richard Bassett's daughter, and they built a home in Pencader Hundred in 1773. During the American Revolutionary War, Clayton served as an aide and surgeon to George Washington at the Battle of Brandywine and at Valley Forge. He then served in the House of Assembly from 1778 to 1779, 1780 to 1784, 1785 to 1786, and 1787 to 1788, and he served as Governor from 1789 to 1796. Two years after leaving the governorship, he was appointed to finish John Vining's unexpired term in the US Senate, only to himself die in office and be succeeded by William H. Wells.